Inside Health

Medical Marijuana Measure Falls With Connecticut Governor's Veto

By MATTHEW J. MALONE

Published: June 20, 2007

After struggling with what was described as one of the most difficult decisions in her three-year tenure, Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed a measure today that would have legalized the use of marijuana for certain medical conditions.

In a statement, Mrs. Rell, a breast cancer survivor, said, ''I completely sympathize with the well-intentioned goal of alleviating pain and suffering, but legal alternatives are available.''

Supporters of the measure were quick to express their disappointment. Gabriel Sayegh, a project director with Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group, called the governor's veto ''unconscionable.''

''It guarantees the continued criminalization of people who are trying to relieve pain and suffering,'' Mr. Sayegh said.

The law would have allowed residents 18 or older suffering from multiple sclerosis, cancer, AIDS and other diseases to grow marijuana in their homes with a doctor's recommendation and a state permit.

In the past five years, the legislature has considered several bills that allowed the use of marijuana for medical purposes, but until now none had passed. Connecticut approved a measure in 1981 allowing doctors to prescribe the drug, but no pharmacies stocked it because it is still a federal crime to buy, sell or possess marijuana.

Connecticut was not the only state wrestling with the question of legalizing marijuana this spring. In New York, the Democratic-controlled State Assembly passed a bill last week that would allow eligible patients to legally acquire and use marijuana or grow up to a dozen plants at a time. Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who in the past had opposed the idea, said last week he would sign such a bill ''if properly structured,'' but it stalled in the Senate after the majority leader said he could not support the Assembly bill.

A dozen states have legalized the use of marijuana to ease the pain of a number of illnesses. In Maryland, patients are protected from going to jail for using marijuana, although they can still be arrested.

In earlier statements, Mrs. Rell said she would have been more comfortable with a bill that confined the use of marijuana to terminally ill patients. But such a compromise would not necessarily address her concern over patients and caregivers possessing marijuana in violation of federal law.

''There are no pharmacies, storefronts or mail order catalogs where patients or caregivers can legally purchase marijuana plants or seeds,'' the governor wrote in her veto message. ''I am troubled by the fact that, in essence, this bill forces law abiding citizens to seek out drug dealers to make their marijuana purchases.''

She also expressed concern that such a law would send the wrong message to Connecticut's youth.

Penny Bacchiochi, a Republican state representative from Somers who said she bought marijuana for her late husband as he battled bone cancer in the 1980s, said she met with the governor shortly after the bill was approved by the legislature.

Ms. Bacchiochi said the governor ''struggled deeply'' with the decision, adding, ''She completely understood the compassionate side of the bill, but couldn't get over the fact that it was illegal on the federal level.''

She said she planned to try to work with Mrs. Rell in the next legislative session to reach a compromise.

But State Senator Andrew J. McDonald, a Democrat from Stamford who is the deputy majority leader, said after the veto was announced that the governor never raised her concerns as the bill was being drafted, when modifications could have been made.

''In many ways, a gubernatorial veto represents a failure of leadership by the governor rather than an exercise of leadership,'' Mr. McDonald said.

Citing a 2004 survey by the University of Connecticut that found broad public support for the use of marijuana for medical purposes, he said, ''The governor clearly stands apart from the vast majority of her citizens in opposing this legislation.''